鈥淚nformation lasts forever on the Internet, in a whole lot of cases.鈥�
A scary thought from David Fraser, one of Canada鈥檚 leading IT and privacy lawyers and MC for this year鈥檚 Data Privacy Day event at Dal. But it鈥檚 the reality of an age where digital information is our primary form of business currency.
Data Privacy Day is an international event, held this year on January 28, to inform and educate citizens around the world about ways to protect their rights to privacy. It鈥檚 designed to inform everyone from business professionals to government employees to students about the importance of data privacy and the impact that technology has on our ability to protect our data.
Dal鈥檚 event featured a variety of speakers from different sectors and parts of the world, many of them urging attendees to use the variety of resources available for self-education on privacy law and avoiding privacy threats.
Staying curious about privacy
Fraser promoted having an interest in and being curious about privacy related topics.
鈥淧rivacy stuff comes to the fore all the time,鈥� he explained. 鈥淔acebook implements a new policy for settings, everybody sees that in their feed. They should click on it, they should investigate it, it won鈥檛 take very long... all the privacy regulators in Canada have a lot of really useful resources on their websites that are focused at consumers and individuals who don't need a law degree in order to figure these things out.鈥�
The speakers also recognized that the onus of data privacy does not always rest on the shoulders of citizens. In the wake of the recent breach at HRSDC Canada and the loss of the personal and sensitive information of at least 500,000 student loan applicants as well as their guarantors and co-signers, the general sentiment at the conference was that our governments can and should be doing more to protect our personal data and privacy.
Jill Clayton, Alberta's current information and privacy commissioner, spoke to these recent data protection disasters as well as emerging issues regarding privacy legislation and resources. She emphasized the importance of government transparency regarding data privacy and protection.
鈥淭here are privacy laws across Canada [which] give individuals rights; [however] if you don't know what鈥檚 happened to your information, if systems are not transparent, or if they're so complex and sophisticated you have no idea what鈥檚 going on, then you won't know to exercise those rights鈥� said Clayton.
Big data, big questions
Dwight Fischer, Dal鈥檚 assistant vice-president of Information Technology Services, discussed the privacy implications of using personal data to customize student learning based on personal data, akin to systems like Amazon or Google Analytics. The presentation generated lots of discussion about how such a system could be implemented while still protecting the privacy and data of the individuals involved.
Other presentations included Peter Morin, senior manager for IT security at Bell Aliant, discussing security considerations with cloud technology, and John Bullock, Dal鈥檚 information security manager, who compelled the audience to defend their privacy rights and not give away more information to websites and services than what is necessary.
The event was sold out this year, attracting registrants from a wide variety of backgrounds including government, private business, public sector and students, for whom the conference was free.
The last speaker of the day was Simon Davies, a privacy advocate and academic from the U.K. who is widely acknowledged as one of the world鈥檚 most influential privacy experts. Davies has worked in the arenas of privacy, data protection, consumer rights and technology policy for more than 25 years and, for him, seeing a room full of more than 200 people interested in data privacy was groundbreaking.
鈥淧eople have begun to wise up about the way their privacy is being treated and they don鈥檛 like it,鈥� he said. 鈥淭en years ago this was an elite niche market... it shows we are now dealing with a valuable economic sector and something that matters to the whole world, now I believe things are changing.鈥�